28937521.pdf

8/1520-C

ATTN NO. ---
DATE OF INFO 8 March 1950
AD NO. ---
LOCATION W-P AFB, Dayton
SUBJECT ATIC Personnel
DATE OF REPORT 15 March 1950
DATE IN TO ATIC ---
TIME OF RECEIVING 1020 EST
COLOR ---
SHIPPED ---
SHIP DATE LARGE
AUTHORIZE ---
COUNTRY ---
NO. IN GROUP 1
LENGTH OF TIME OBSERVED ---
MOUND ---
TYPE OF OBSERVATION ---
PROMISE ---
MANUFACTURE ---
Temporary ATIC Form 329
(2 Jan 52)

Report of radar sighting at W-P AFB and
visual sighting at Vandalia. Visual sighting
was Venus, radar sighting. Was ice
open close.

VISUAL: SULAR (MAK)
ALSO

8 March

# FINAL GALLEY PROOF

Galley 31—THE WORLD OF FLYING SAUCERS

## Venus as a Morning Star

One of the "best" UFOs of the year 1950 appeared when Venus performed in plain sight of the ATIC offices at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio [2, p. 103].

About midmorning on March 8 a TWA plane, coming in to land at Dayton municipal airport, was circling to get into the traffic pattern when both pilot and copilot noticed an extremely bright light hovering in the southeast. Much brighter and larger than a star, it appeared and disappeared in the high, thick, scattered clouds. The towe…

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Subject: Unidentified Object Incident of 8 March 1950

TO: MCIAXA
FROM: MCIAX…

6.41

AMC EXPERIMENTAL TEST PILOT SCHOOL
FLIGHT TEST DIVISION
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE
DAYTON, OHIO

8 March 1950

SUBJECT: Report of Unidentified Object in Vicinity of
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base

At approximately 7:45 A.M. I was informed by the Control
Tower, Patterson Field to search for an unidentified object
which was high over the field. The Tower told me this
object had been originally reported by two airline pilots
to the Vandalia Control Tower. The pilots described it as
a long slender body at an estimated altitude of approximately
10,000 ft and approaching from the north w…

Shortly afterwards, however, a National Guard pilot from Vandalia, Colonel Shaefer, sighted an object when he was on the ground, and he took off in an F-51 and attempted to track it. After he landed, I talked to Colonel Shaefer, and he reported to me that "he followed it for 20 to 30 minutes and the object did not change its position". Because of this, Colonel Shaefer thought it might be a "heavenly body". During all of this time, neither Radar was able to detect any strange bodies of any sort.

At approximately 11:30 A.M. I received a telephone call from the Electronic Subdivision Radar stati…

UNCLASSIFIED

REPORT OF INVESTIGATION CONDUCTED AT VANDALIA AIRPORT REGARDING SIGHTING OF "STRANGE OBJECT"

1. Two representatives of the Intelligence Department, Hq AMC, W-P AFB, Mr. Albert Deyarmond and Mr. Fred Kobernuss, talked with several people at the Vandalia airport with regard to the sighting of an unidentified object on the morning of 8 March 1950.

2. Names of people who were interrogated with regard to this phenomenon are:

a. Mr. George Barnes, Airport Traffic Controller; CAA (Dayton Tower)
b. Mr. Sherman Seydler, Chief Airport Traffic Controller; CAA (Dayton Tower)
c. Mr. Steven…

UNCLASSIFIED

4. Interrogation of Mr. Seydler:

Mr. Seydler observed the object between the hours of 0800 and 1000. He noted that the sphere seemed to be thin when it turned; however, he believed that sun reflection might have had something to do with this apparition. He claims that the object travelled to a height above 30,000 feet since high cirrus clouds were present at approximately 29,000 to 30,000 feet and he thought that he noticed the clouds to be between the ground and the object. He could not determine the distance of the object in any other way. He further gave information as to the…

UNCLASSIFIED

that this had happened, Colonel Shafer decided to chase the object in an F-51. Colonel Shafer reported to the tower at various times during his climb to altitude and said that at no time during the climb did the angle of elevation (about 40°) between him and the object vary, neither did the azimuth vary. According to Colonel Shafer, the object was at a bearing of 165-170° and no variation in this position was noticed during the entire flight. Colonel Shafer maintains that the object was a star since its angle of elevation never varied (that is, when seen from the ground or from t…